from scratch baking and cooking blog

Category Archives: Cookies

If I haven’t said it before, I have made at least 30 different versions of chocolate chip cookies. That said this recipe below is by far my most requested recipe!

In fact it’s the only recipe I have memorized by heart because I have made it so many times. I have been fine tunning it for years. My mom always says I don’t like to share my food but I do love to share my recipes! This one is for you Kathy 😊!

We are gearing up for our yearly Topsail NC road trip and I asked my nephew what cookies I should make. Despite I already knew the answer before I asked the question… CHOCOLATE CHIP Aunt Nelli ❤️.

This Recipe Yields: approximately 5 dozen cookies using number 60 scooper.

Fall is pumpkin madness as far as I am concerned so I am going to take advantage of the season and the bountiful harvest of the pie pumpkins! This is a spin off my hubbies favorite chocolate chip cookie.

This recipe yields: 74 cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/4 cup puréed pumpkin

¾ cup brown sugar

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups Whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp kosher salt

1 small box pumpkin pie instant pudding ( you can use sugar free)

1 (10 ounce) bag pumpkin spice baking chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Parchment paper line 2 half sheet pans & set aside.

3. In a small bowl thoroughly mix together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

4. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment beat butter until light and fluffy. Add in both sugars, vanilla, pudding mix, and pumpkin continue to beat with paddle attachment. Slowly add in eggs one at a time.

5. Add in flour blend to the liquid batter. Slowly incorporate. Be cautious not to over mix. Fold in pumpkin chips.

6. Portion out cookies using a # 60 scoop and place 15 to a pan. Bake for 12-13 minutes. Allow to cool for 1-2 minutes on pan and then move to a wire rack to cool.

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I was getting ready for our Topsail Trip this summer and made a batch of these cookies for our road trip down. The journey usually takes 12 hours on average for us. I always look forward to the road trip. My mom always says it is not always the destination but the journey it takes to reach the destination. I love this piece of advice, and I learn the older I get the more I find truth to the quote.

We make a lot of memories on our drive down and back to Topsail. We put on various xm stations (90 on 9, The Blend, Highway, Y2K Country) and hit the cruise control. We usually get lost along the way but we always find new markets, cars for sale, or antique stores along the way. We laugh about getting lost later.

To fuel our journey, we pack our car with a lot of snacks so we don’t have to stop as much. Plus it saves us some money to spend later ….. on another vacation (hehe). My husband always says more than half of what I pack is food. Which is true and I guess because that is the dietitian in me.

I did make one healthy swap on these cookies and it was to incorporate more whole grain by using whole wheat flour. Next time I will try and decrease the saturated fat and sugar content by using unsweetened applesauce.

This recipe yields: 36 rather large cookies (when you use a number 40 cookie scoop)

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

2 egg

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp (soften)

3 cups Old fashioned Oats

1 1/2 cups of raisins or your favorite dried fruit

Tools for the job:

2 half sheet cookie sheets: Line with Parchment paper

#40 cookie scoop

Oven : Preheat to 350 degrees.

Directions:

In a large glass bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a bowl attached to a stand mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy, add the sugar and cream the two together. Add in the eggs one at a time and lastly add in the vanilla.

Gently add in the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix on low until incorporated. Caution not to over mix.

Lastly fold in the oats and raisins.

Use a number 40 cookie scoop to portion out the goodies on the parchment lined pan.

Last Tuesday was my husband and I’s 9 year wedding anniversary. Every year as a tradition I make him one of his favorite dinners. The dish is usually chicken parm and fettuccini alfredo, but this year we did things a little differently. We made dinner together, I love cooking and baking with him in the kitchen. I find it gives us the time to talk about the day and plans for the weekend.

One dinner item I wanted to make sure was done before he got home was dessert. We were talking the other day about cookies and he mentioned to me he liked double chocolate chip cookies growing up. I couldn’t believe after 9 years of marriage that he just now mentioned he loves double chocolate chip cookies. Every time I telI him I am in the mood to make cookies his answer is always chocolate chip so I guess that is how these double chocolate cookies never came up in conversation. He explained to me, he used to love going to the Oringal Cookie place in the mall and he would order these as a treat. From that point on I made it my mission to find the ultimate double chocolate chip cookie recipe. These cookies are rich in chocolate and will definitely satisfy your chocolate craving.

In a large bowl sift the flour, salt, soda, cocoa, and espresso then whisk the dry ingredients together thoroughly. Set aside

In a stand mixer bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy (approximately 1-2 minutes). On low speed add one egg at a time and then the vanilla. Continue to mix on low until the ingredients are incorporated; however, be careful not to over mix.

While keeping the mixer speed on low, gradually add in the dry sifted ingredients into the wet batter. Once there are no signs of dry residue fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Using a cookie scoop (size # 60) portion out the cookies evenly on the half sheet parchment paper lined pan. I placed 3 cookies a cross and 12 to a pan.

Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minute, remove the cookies from oven and allow the cookies to rest on the pan for 1 minute than remove to a wire rack for the remainder of the cooling process.

Pizzelles are a beloved and versatile cookie. You can make just about any flavor you can image. Traditional flavors are anise, vanilla, almond and lemon. There is actually a cookie shop back home that makes all different kinds of flavors from margarita to key lime, so if you are turning your nose up to these cookies reconsider a nontraditional flavor.

As a child, I can remember my Grandma Harper always having these delectable cookies around for the holiday. I recently was able to go through some of her recipes and lucky stumbled across this classic treasure. Her recipe as you can see below calls for anise and also anisette liquor.

My husband and I were making these last night, honestly it is a two person task as fast as these have to bake in the press. The pizzelle iron we were graciously able to use had 4 pizzelles molds, which did cut some of the time in half. My grandfather let us borrow his 1986 iron which still was packaged nicely in the orginial box for preservation. A habit I have adopted but never knew, who I inherited that from, but now do and I am thankful for. I must say items not used every day last better kept in boxes and stack easier for storage.

By using my Grandma and Grandpa’s Sears and Roebuck Counter Craft Waffle Baker-International Dessert- Pizzelle Maker, it made me feel like she was with us pressing out the cookies. Even though I do have to mention, this was my first encounter making these cookies, which caused me slight stress trying to perfect them I still felt pleasure in creating them with her recipe & iron.

This recipe yields 56 standard size pizzelles

Ingredients:

6 Eggs

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

4 tsp baking powder

2 TB vanilla extract or anise

1/2 cup annisette

3 1/2 cups AP flour

1 cup of unsalted butter (grandma used margarine for everything): melted and allow to cool

Helpful hint: Now, Grandma’s recipe directions were never elaborate. So I did beat the eggs in a standing mixer with whisk attachment. I sifted the flour with baking powder on parchment paper, which makes it very easy to pour into the mixing bowl without a mess and you don’t have to clean another bowl (hurrah) ! Also, our batter was slightly thick so it took about 1 heaping tablespoon which make our pizzelles thicker. So we will have to thin the batter more next time.

I am working on making a cookbook of my grandmother’s recipes. This recipe will definitely be added to one of the cookbook’s pages.

Yesterday one of my cousins asked me if I had gramdma’s no bake cookie recipe. I looked at the several recipes I had scanned a few months ago and sure enough I had it. This was one of his favorite treats my grandma used to make for us growing up. I almost forgot about this classic cookie thay used to fill her cookie jar and our hearts and stomachs years ago.

She always had homemade treats in her cookie jar for the grandkids and for grandpa too! I can honestly say I don’t ever recollect the jar being empty.

This recipe yields 51 cookies using a 60 scoopIngredients :

1/2 cup unsalted butter (grandma used margarine)

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup skim milk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 cups old fashioned mother’s oats

6 tb Dutch Processed Cocoa (grandma used Hershey’s cocoa

1/2 c marshmallow fluff

Directions:

1. Mix together cocoa, butter, sugar, and milk in a 5 or 6 quart sauce pan. Place mixture on high heat and bring to a boil.

2. One sauce is boiling remove from heat and stir in vanilla, peanut butter, and marshmallow fluff. Once sauce incorporates fold in the oats.

3. Scoop the cookies using a size 60 scoop on wax paper. You can place them fairly close together. If you can resist allow the cookies to fully set. The resting period can take up to an hour but this will depend on the temperature in your house.

This past weekend we went to Lake Chautauqua and one of my favorite things about going there is all the quaint antique shops. You never know what you are going to find and what you might stumble across to inspire you to make something delicious! Two items I could not pass up was a pair of antique cookie jars …well my mom would not let me pass up.
A friend of mine had these snickerdoodles at her wedding and my husband adored them! The bride graciously gave me her mom’s special recipe.

I have been waiting for the perfect moment to make them! Tonight seemed like the perfect opportunity! I had to fill up my “new” antique cookie jar!
This recipe yields four dozen cookies using a 60 size scoop.

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Family favorites around here are chocolate chip cookies. Now the debate of what is the best is still up in the air but on vacation the nestle toll houses recipe is a fan favorite for the Lee’s. Every year when we get together for a family vacation we bake these for a sweet treats after dinner.

1. Mix well together with whisk in a medium bowl butter, sugars, and vanilla. Make sure the mixture is good and creamy. Add one egg at a time and incorporate after each addition. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl mix together flour, soda, & salt. Add the mixed dry ingredients into the mixture with a wooden spoon. Once incorporated add nuts and chocolate chips.

3. Place the dough about 1 TB spoon amount on the baking pan and space about 1.5 inches apart and bake for 9 minutes. Be careful the amount of time & temperature depending on the darkness of the pan and the temp of the dough. We did have to decrease the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 12 minutes. Remove from pan right away.

4. Enjoy quickly! They go fast!
You can tell when we are not in our own Kitchen, we have to resort to creative “mixing bowls”.